Australian World Cross
Country team arrives in Portugal
Athletics Australia
15 March 2000 - A small but strong team of Optus Southern Stars will represent
Australia at the 28th annual IAAF World Cross Championships in Vilamoura,
Portugal on the weekend, 18-19 March.
Clair Fearnley (Victoria) and Kylie Risk (Tasmania) will
compete in the women’s long course event over 8km. Michael Power and Anne Cross (Vic)
will run the short course races over 4km.
Fearnley had a tremendous Optus Grand Prix season with two personal bests over 10,000m and
one over 5000m. She clocked 31:55.65 to win the Australian 10,000m Championships at
Stadium Australia in February after running 32:18.22 for third at the Optus Zatopek
Classic in Melbourne in December. Her nationals’ time places her fifth on the
Australian all-time ranking list.
Over 5000m Fearnley set a personal best of 15:14.26 at the Optus Sydney Grand Prix in
February which places her third on the Australian all-time list. She is one place behind
team-mate Kylie Risk who ran 15:13.44 in Hobart in December.
Risk also ran well over 10,000m this season with a best of 31:58.90 when second at the
Optus Zatopek Classic. She has a good record in the World Cross Country Championships,
considered to be one of the toughest events in athletics, including a 21st in
1996 and 1997, 19th in 1998 and 28th in 1999. Fearnley was 74th
last year and 77th in 1996.
Anne Cross performed well throughout the season over 5000m with three Olympic A qualifiers
including a best of 15:20.78.
Michael Power, who has recorded two Olympic A qualifiers over 5000m, is one of the rising
distance stars in Australia. His personal best of 13:27.07 was set at the Optus Brisbane
Grand Prix and he clocked another Olympic qualifier when victorious at the Australian
Championships, both in February.
Power will enter the World Cross Championships with an excellent cross country record
following his stint at the University of Arkansas in the US. He competed regularly and
successfully in cross country events on the American collegiate circuit in 1998 and 1999
including a second place in the NCAA (National Collegiate Association of America) Cross
Country Championships last year.
Australia’s best all-time performance at the World Cross Country Championships is a
fourth placing by Steve Moneghetti (Vic) in 1989, while in the women’s race, Jackie
Perkins (Vic) recorded a fifth placing, also in 1989.
